Layout board



March 11, 1958 E. L. GORDEN 2,825,982

LAYOUT BOARD Filed Dec. 9. 1953 l6 -zmi'zw' /g I 0 fi W 34 3'6 34 '78 ATTO/F/VF United States Patent LAYOUT BOARD Application December 9, 1953, Serial No. 397,141

1 Claim. (CI. 35-16) This invention relates to recessed layout boards and more particularly to double-faced composite layout boards having recessed panels of relatively soft material removably supported in frames of relatively hard material.

Factory layout boards are used for removably supporting on one face thereof layout sheets with floor plans of portions of factories or buildings on which scaled card templates, representing machines, fixtures, and other items, are secured in their proper positions with map pins or tacks to indicate their position on the floor of the factory. Difficulties have been experienced with factory layout boards consisting only of panels of plywood in that some portions of the grain of the plywood are relatively hard and offer considerable resistance to the entrance of tacks, thus necessitating the use of a hammer to drive the tacks in and also the use of tack-pulling tools to remove the tacks. In pushing the tacks into the hard portions of the grain the tacks and the templates are frequently caused to shift from their proper intended position. With this flat type of heavy layout board, damage to the layout sheets and the templates frequently occurs incident to the stacking and unstacking of the boards since protruding pins and tacks tear templates and clothing and as the board wears there are injuries from slivers to contend with.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved factory layout board having a composition panel recessed in a frame.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a factory layout board having a double-faced recessed center panel of relatively soft material permitting the ready insertion and removal of pins.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a composite factory layout board having a quickly removable panel and a sectional frame for removably supporting said panel.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent by reference to the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment thereof, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the improved factory layout board showing a layout sheet and templates mounted on the upper face thereof and with portions'broken away;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view of the layout board with portions broken away and portions shown in section;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view through a portion of the layout board taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary detailed perspective view of the end portions of two rails of the frame thereof in separated relation to each other.

The factory layout board comprises a rectangular panel of composition board 12 surrounded and supported by a sectional frame of wood or light metal such as aluminum or magnesium 14. The panel 12 is a composition board of fibrous material such as Celotex or 2,825,982 Patented Mar. 11, 1958 Temlok having a pair of opposing flat smooth faces and being relatively soft so that map pins or tacks may be readily manually pushed thereinto and removed therefrom. i

' The, frame 14 comprises a pair of side rails 16-16 and a pair of end rails 18-48, each of which are provided withna. longitudinally extending central groove 20 for receiving the edge portion of the panel therein. The end rails 18 at the ends thereof are provided, with tongues 22 adapted to fit into the grooves 20 of the end rails 16 to aid in maintaining the rails in horizontal aligned relationship one. to another. Externally and internally threaded bushings 24 are screwed into recesses in the tongues22= at each end of the end rails 18 and screws 26 passing through apertures 28 in the end portions of the side rails 16 threadedly engage the bushings 24 for securing the end and side rails in assembled relation around the panel 12. The heads of the screws 26 seat against washers 30 which are mounted in counterbored end portions of the apertures 28 and form hardened wear surfaces for the screw heads. As thus constructed, the layout board may be readily assembled and disassembled. If it is desired to replace an old and worn panel 12 with a new one, this may be readily done by remov ing a pair of screws 16 and either a side rail or an end rail, withdrawing the panel 12, sliding in the new panel, and replacing the rail and the screws 16.

The layout board may rest on either face of the frame 14 and the panel 12 thereof is supported along its perimeter in the frame 14 with the upper and lower faces of the panel 12 in spaced relation to the upper and lower faces of the frame 14, thus providing a protective space therebetween for layout sheets, templates, and the heads of tacks or map pins for securing the templates to the panel. As shown in Fig. 1 a layout sheet 32 is mounted on the upper face of the panel 12 and is secured thereto by a plurality of tacks or pins pushed through the marginal portions of the sheet into the panel, and a plurality of templates 34 are secured on the layout sheet 32 in proper position by map pins 36 pressed through the templates and the layout sheet and into the panel 12. Both faces of the panel 12 of the layout board may be used for supporting the layouts by simply turning over the layout board 14 to make either side available. As seen in Fig. 3 the space between the faces of the panel 12 and the upper and lower faces of the frame 14 is suflicient to accommodate the layout sheet, the templates, and the heads of the map pins so that the heads of the pins do not project beyond the horizontal surfaces of the frame 14. This not only permits the board to be reversed and both sides of the recessed panel used for supporting a layout thereon but also permits the stacking of the boards face to face on each other horizontally or vertically without sustaining any damage to the pins, templates, or the layout sheets.

It is to be understood that the above-described arrangements are simply illustrative of the application of the principles of this invention. Numerous other arrangements may be readily devised by those skilled in the art which will embody the principles of the invention and fall within the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

A reversible and stackable layout board comprising a rectangular fiat rigid panel of relatively soft material having a pair of opposed parallel faces into which pins and tacks may be readily inserted for holding the layouts thereon, and a frame of relatively hard material for engaging the edges of said panel and having opposed faces for supporting the panel with the opposite faces thereof in spaced relation to the corresponding faces of the frame, said frame including two pairs of opposed rails having grooves therein for receiving the edges of said panel,

3? one of said pairs of opposed rails having tongues on the ends thereof engageable in the grooves in the other pair of rails, said tongues being of the same width as the grooves and extending from the ends of the said pair of rails a distance substantially equal to the depth of the grooves, a threaded bushing seeufed in the tongues of said one pair of rails, said other pair of rails having apert'nr'es' through the ends thereof in alignment with said bushings, and threaded members disposed in the aper fiires in said other pair of rails and engageable with the threaded bushings for r'emov'ably securing said two pairs of rails in assembled'relation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 51,114 La Bar ..a Nov. 21, 1865 4 Gilbert H -.-=a=; May 14, Rudolph Aug. 14, Quidor Jan. 3, Sloss Jan. 6, Smith et a1 Nov. 21, Loveless June 10, Copeland Oct. 25, Brooks May 20, Klirnowicz May 14, Keijffel Apr. 18, Flora a Feb. 6, Fox Apr. 2, Geimer 15, 

